(měi miào) - wonderful, lovely, splendid in Mandarin
měimiàoTraditional: 美妙
Translation
wonderful, lovely, splendid
Word origin
A compound of 美 (měi, beautiful) and 妙 (miào, subtle or marvellous), so beautiful in a way that is hard to pin down.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 美 (měi, beautiful) + 妙 (miào, marvellous, subtle)
Stroke order
美
妙
Examples
。
This is a wonderful piece of music.
。
That evening was quite wonderful.
。
Her voice is lovely.
。
The trip gave us wonderful memories.
春。
A spring morning is the loveliest thing of all.
美妙 (měi miào) describes beauty you experience rather than beauty you look at: music, a voice, a feeling, an evening. The 妙 half adds a sense of something delicate and slightly beyond words.
Because of that it does not sit well on physical objects or on people. A woman is 美丽, a view is 美, a piece of music is 美妙. Saying 她很美妙 is not wrong so much as strange, like calling a person exquisite in English.
It is a written and slightly lyrical word. In everyday conversation people say 太好了 or 真棒. Keep 美妙 for the sentence where you actually want the reader to slow down.
Where this fits
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美妙: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "美妙" (wonderful, lovely, splendid): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 47.